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COMPUTER SIMULATION OF A BREAK-AWAY SIGN SUPPORT

PRESENT (1967) HIGHWAY DESIGN CONCEPTS PLACE SIGN SUPPORT STRUCTURES CLOSE TO THE ROADWAY. THE SUPPORTS ARE A HAZARD TO THE MOTORING PUBLIC. A BREAK-AWAY CONCEPT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO MAKE THESE SUPPORTS SAFER. A MATHEMATICAL MODEL IS DEVELOPED WHICH CAN BE USED TO INVESTIGATE THE RESPONSE OF A BREAK-AWAY SIGN SUPPORT. THE MODEL IS BASED ON A DISCRETE MASS SYSTEM REPRESENTING THE SUPPORT AND VEHICLE. NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO INTEGRATE THE EQUATION OF MOTION. THE MODEL IS VERIFIED BY COMPARISON WITH DATA FROM A FULL-SCALE TEST OF A SIGN SUPPORT /ASCE/